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Really bad week in Top 40 history

firepoint525 said:
On that last 1975 retro AT40 last week, Casey Kasem played a sample of Ben E. King's original "Stand By Me" before going on to John Lennon's version, which was on the chart that week. It occurred to me that to the teenagers of 1975, Ben E. King's version was probably unheard of! And it also occurred to me that the "definitive" version of "Stand By Me" (or more precisely, the one that you best remember) probably depends on how old you are. I was 16 in 1980 when Urban Cowboy came out, so I was probably most familiar (at that time, anyway) with Mickey Gilley's version. I discovered John Lennon's version right after his death, and being a Beatles fan, that one remains my fave. I also remember a 1985 cover version by Maurice White (ex-Earth, Wind, and Fire), which got some limited airplay in 1985, and cracked the top 50 that year, but did little else. White was probably kicking himself when the movie Stand By Me came out the following year, and revived interest in the Ben E. King version, which I could not recall ever having heard until then. King's version probably remains the most popular version, largely on the strength of that movie.
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So much depends on how old the teenager was, where they lived and what they'd been listening to.

I was 19 and grew up on KHJ, Los Angeles, which played the Ben E. King as a golden until 1971 or so. A younger teen listening to the same station may never have heard it when the Lennon cover came out.
 
I heard Lennon's SBM maybe one time (on WFIL) when it was new. OTOH I'd already heard King's version (and his "Spanish Harlem") quite a few times in the three years I'd been listening to WCAU-FM's oldies format (since maybe spring 1972). I even bought the rereleased single when the movie came out.

Seven or eight years ago I had an office job where the muzak speakers would occasionally play Lennon's SBM. Brought back some memories of '75 (although it didn't sound as reggaeish to me as Philip Norman's John Lennon: The Life would have me believe). John's teamup with Sir Elton on "Lucy..." was more reggaeish.

I've never heard Gilley's or White's versions of SBM.

ixnay
 
I like all four. Gilley makes it sound like it was a country song all along and the production values on the Maurice White version are terrific.
 
ixnay said:
I heard Lennon's SBM maybe one time (on WFIL) when it was new. OTOH I'd already heard King's version (and his "Spanish Harlem") quite a few times in the three years I'd been listening to WCAU-FM's oldies format (since maybe spring 1972). I even bought the rereleased single when the movie came out.
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Being the renegade that I was, I specifically bought the Atlantic oldies series 45 when "Stand By Me" was re-released due to the movie. I did not buy the re-released single. The "b-side" (technically, they were both hits) of the oldies series 45 was "I (Who Have Nothing)." Can't recall ever having heard that one anywhere, other than on that 45.

Lennon's version remains my fave, with Maurice White close behind. (The video (yes, there is one) for the Lennon version continues on beyond what you heard on the record, an extended version, if you will.)
 
Bad? I was 12 and remember them all. Just because Classic Hits radio decided to play only 100 songs is no reason to slight the week. Some jock back then force fed me those hits. Many listeners, including me, remember them fondly. The bad part of your post is that you can't hear them anywhere (except on my show perhaps).
 
Barry Scott said:
Bad? I was 12 and remember them all. Just because Classic Hits radio decided to play only 100 songs is no reason to slight the week. Some jock back then force fed me those hits. Many listeners, including me, remember them fondly. The bad part of your post is that you can't hear them anywhere (except on my show perhaps).
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No classic hits station is playing that few titles, or the 200 you accused stations of playing in another thread.
 
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